Broken Clarinet
by Wumbo-Girl 1314
Summary: Squidward's prized clarinet is broken by a bully, so SpongeBob steps to the rescue! Only he has his own demons to face as well...momentarily rated K, but rating may go up.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey, peeps! It's me, Wumbo- Girl 1314, and I've got another story for you...this is a friendship story between SpongeBob and Squidward. If anyone is OOC, I apologise, as I have not been in touch with the fandom lately. But I hope you enjoy this story regardless! Also, it's rated K+ for the end of the story.

...

Music is a powerful thing in life- with its uncanny means of bringing people together and breaking them into smiling, it's no wonder everyone- or nearly everyone- loves music so much.

It's no different in Bikini Bottom, and Squidward Tentacles is certainly no exception to music making.

...

Squidward let his breath fill the clarinet, allowing it to produce one wrangled note after another in a straggly procession as he attempts a rendition of a classical clarinet piece.

The people of Bikini Bottom, unfortunately, are not very appreciative at the cephalopod's attempts to create music, and many fish end up scuttling past the park bench in an attempt to escape the racket.

Oblivious to all this, however (or shooting deadly glares to anyone daring to criticise his talent) Squidward keeps blaring his tuneless racket across the Bikini Bottom Park.

"Oi, big nose- cut the horrid music, will ya?"

Squidward lets out an annoyed huff as a wrasse steps in his line of vision. His bulky stature and his green and pink scales are enough to frighten anyone, but Squidward is not one to be intimidated when he is simply enjoying his day off.

"No, I will _not_ stop playing my clarinet, 'sir'- especially since you behaved so rudely to me." He tells the wrasse boldly and grumpily, before lifting his clarinet to his mouth.

"You better stop or else!" The wrasse threatens- but the cephalopod just laughs.

"Oh yes, what are you going to do?" He asks, putting his tentacles on his hips.

The wrasse pauses, uncertain- then sees the offending instrument in the octopus's left tentacle. He smirks.

"Well, if you wouldn't do as I'll ask, I'll force ya!" And with one deft movement, he snatches the clarinet from Squidward's tentacle.

SNAP!

The leer on the wrasse's face is blurred by Squidward's tears, and the poor cashier octopus stares at the matchsticks which were once his most prized possession.

"There- now you can't ever annoy me or anyone else in this town with your hideous music, you talentless loser!" The wrasse jeers cruelly, whilst Squidward blinks back tears of anger and hurt. Leaving the park, he hears the wrasse's cruel laughter ringing through the park all the while.

A small yellow hand raises itself to the owner's mouth in horror as he watches Squidward leave the park. Tears of compassion begin to form in his innocent blue eyes, and he resolves to right this wrong immediately.


	2. Chapter 2

"Meow?" Gary slithers up to his master and watches with curiosity as his master counts out the dollars and cents lying on the floor of his room- his piggy bank lying on its side, with its cork ripped out.

"Not now, Gary! I have to...where was I again? I lost count." SpongeBob suddenly coughs, trying to ignore a strange sensation deep in his body as his coughs rack his spongy frames. _'Nah, it's probably nothing to worry about...'_ he dismisses, trying to focus on his mission- or at least recall where he got to.

"Meow, meow," Gary meows, deadpan.

"Huh? Oh- forty dollars and 38 cents. Thanks pal!" SpongeBob says, stroking his snail's shell affectionately. "I'll get your dinner in a minute, Gare- I'm just counting my savings." He explains.

Gary rolls his eyes, irritated. "Meow?"

"Oh, Gary, I saw the most awful thing at the park today. A wrasse went up to Squidward...and broke his clarinet!" the poriferan explains with a shocked tone, his innocent baby blue eyes wide with shock as he recalls the incident at the park.

"Meow!"

"Gary! You shouldn't say that!" SpongeBob admonishes. "How would you feel if you got your favourite poetry book ripped up by a bully for no reason?"

Gary hisses, his eyes narrowing. SpongeBob nods in affirmation.

"Precisely. Squidward was just trying to do something he loves...and the fact that the wrasse didn't like it doesn't make it right for him to break it- and Squidward's clarinet means so much to him...I'm going to replace it."

"Meow..."

"Good," SpongeBob picks Gary up and kisses his shell. "C'mon, buddy- time for dinner!" He says brightly, abandoning his quest for the time being as his stomach starts growling loudly.

"Meow, meow!" the mollusc agrees wholeheartedly. He can't help but notice though, that SpongeBob is starting to look pale, and somehow less yellow than usual. He makes a mental note to call Sandy later and query into a possible medical condition.

If Mr. Krabs had been overworking him again...

...

The next day, Monday, SpongeBob works hard at the Krusty Krab. He doesn't tell Squidward his plans to replace the clarinet- deciding instead to surprise his co-worker/neighbour/friend.

Unfortunately, Squidward was even more sullen than usual that morning- as a result, - he doesn't yell when the poriferan starts singing about Krabby Patties, or shove SpongeBob away when he receives an unexpected- but not surprising -hug from the fry cook.

"Great...that foolish wrasse has cost me my savings," Grumbles Squidward. With his clarinet deemed beyond repair, he now has no choice but to get a new one- though he had called the police in the hope they could arrest the wrasse for damage of private property. Hopefully, if Squidward could sue him, he might just be able to compensate for his lost wages.

"Hey man, can I uh, get some ketchup?" A fish asks nervously, snapping Squidward out of his thoughts with a furious jolt.

"Oh, sure, you can have some ketchup- and plenty of my anger to go with it!" He yells, flinging the ketchup sachet at the customer, who flees the cash register in terror. Squidward sends a death stare into the fish's retreating spine, before looking at the job notices in the newspaper with a defeated sigh.

With a broken clarinet and a cheap boss doling out unfair wages, he has to find a second, albeit temporary, source of income to fund Clary II.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day passes too quickly. SpongeBob does chores for his friends outside of work to earn a bit of extra cash to boost the clarinet funds, whilst Squidward starts work at the barber's and a delivery round delivering newspapers.

"Wow, thanks for taking care of my lawn, little square dude!" Sandy says cheerfully, slapping him on the back. "Looks straighter than a frightened adder's tail!"

SpongeBob feels his stomach churn from the friendly contact, but manages to fight for control. "No...no problem, Sandy," he wheezes, managing a weak smile up at her.

"Gee, sorry about the lawnmower, though. Wasn't expecting ya to end up having your first unofficial rodeo on my garden." Sandy says apologetically, handing him twelve dollars. "Here, take the extra four for the trouble." She assures.

SpongeBob, too weak to say anything else, gives a polite nod of acknowledgment, before dragging himself off to do Pearl's chores.

Sandy noted how pale her friend looked, and she feels worry manifest in her gut- even more so when Gary phones her urgently, requesting she examine him for signs of overwork or illness the next time she saw him.

...

Meanwhile, Squidward sighs as he looks at the tacky white and red plastic clock on the wall of the barber's shop.

"Come on, sour tentacles!" the barber snaps with a loud bark, pointing to a pile of shaved off back hairs lying at the feet of his customer. "That lot isn't going to sweep itself up!"

Squidward scowls at his temporary boss, and begins to sweep up the hair, pretending he hadn't seen little black things crawling in and out of it. He shudders in revolt.

'It will be worth it, Squiddy,' he reminds himself, mentally. All the same, when he accidentally placed a tentacle in the offending lump, and saw Squilliam randomly passing by and laughing at him from outside- along with a crowd of his starry-eyed followers- he starts to make despairing jokes about the razor cords and the bell above the door.

At this rate, staying up until past midnight almost sounded like heaven.

Or perhaps even working overtime at the Krusty Krab with no overtime. This place disgusted him!

...

Wednesday whizzles out before either of them realise it; Thursday melts into Friday; Friday lumbers into Saturday, and so on as the weeks clamber on. As they get home with their pay, they put it into a secure receptacle to keep the money safe until they could officially buy the clarinet.

By the following week, Squidward notices that SpongeBob is looking just as ragged and ready to collapse from exhaustion as he, if not more so. He frowns in contemplation- what on Earth was that yellow weirdo up to now? He hadn't been as hyperactive or annoying as he normally was, and he was feeling somewhat uneasy. Was he sick? Was he being plagued by some unknown enemy again?

He shakes it off with a simple, routine _'I don't want to know,'._

Meanwhile, despite his own exhaustion, SpongeBob still smiles kindly at Squidward and tries to remain cheerful to his friends and the customers and people of Bikini Bottom.

He does feel awfully tired, though. No matter how much sleep he had gotten from his nights at home, he woke up feeling like he'd been hit by a bus. Not to mention that he had been coughing more, too. Yet, he refused- stubbornly- to go to the doctor. Gary even tried to put his lead on his master's ankles and drag him to a doctor, but SpongeBob wouldn't go.

...

At the end of a particularly busy Thursday, SpongeBob puts another ten dollars and forty cents into his jar- and his eyes widen.

Back when he started the project, he had drawn a big red line on the jar's neck to show when he had enough money to go and buy the clarinet- and the last amount of money he put in...was touching the line.

Overjoyed, SpongeBob whoops. "Hey, Gare, I'm going out to the music store! I'll be back in an hour!" He calls out joyfully, ignoring his exhaustion.

"Meow..." Gary mutters, rolling his eyes and resumes reading his poetry book. Yet, when the door closes, he feels a prickling of dread up his shell.

Something was going to happen to Sponge. And it was not going to be good.


	4. Chapter 4

SpongeBob hurtles to meet Franz the Moonfish- an elderly German speaking music shop owner and part time teacher. "Guten abend SpongeBob!" He greets warmly, as the young poriferan skids to a halt by the counter. "You are here to get your ukulele repaired, ja?"

SpongeBob smiles at his friend, despite the thoughts racing in his mind. "Franz, I'm here to buy a clarinet for a friend of mine," He explains politely. "Please, could you help?"

"Ja- certainly, mein junger freund," Franz answers, smiling warmly at SpongeBob. He turns around and passes a beautifully made clarinet to SpongeBob. "You sure this what you want?"

"Yes, it's wonderful," Smiles SpongeBob. He fishes out the money jar, and hands it to him, blue eyes wide with hope. "Is this enough?"

"Let me see..." Franz accepts the jar and opens it, before counting the contents. SpongeBob fidgets nervously, hoping to high Neptune he had enough.

He doesn't want anything else going wrong...

...

"I'm so sorry, but you are twenty dollars short." Franz tells him sympathetically. SpongeBob's eyes widen.

"I can't be..." he searches his pockets, his pants, the jar, even his holes-but he found nothing. "I... I can't find twenty dollars. I'm sorry I wasted your time, Franz..." He whispers. Franz can hear the poor boy's heart break just by hearing his voice.

The moonfish watches the sponge walk away through squint eyes, and pity evokes in his heart. Franz remembered how he couldn't afford his first flute when he was a boy and how crushed he had been. He doesn't want to put one of his favourite customers through that same pain.

"SpongeBob, warte bitte!" He exclaims, and SpongeBob pauses "I'll give you twenty per cent off the clarinet. I...I don't want you to empty handed be left."

The old moonfish was not disappointed- SpongeBob's eyes light up and he beams at Franz. "You...you mean it? Oh Franz, thank you!" He says in delight, and the old fish chuckles.

"Bitte, mein freund," He answers warmly, and he puts the clarinet in a box. "I hope your friend enjoys it."

"I'm sure he'll love it!" SpongeBob tells him, waving goodbye before heading for home, and Franz chuckles to himself. He sure likes that kid, even if he is a bit energetic.

Though, why was he so pale, and...was it just him, or was the sponge not as bouncy as before?

...

The old moonfish is about to close for the night when a blue octopus comes running towards him, out of breath.

"Wait, wait! I need to buy a clarinet, pronto!" The octopus says, urgently.

Franz just shakes his head. "I am sorry Herr, but I just sold the last clarinet." He says gently. "Besides, I have to go home."

Squidward cannot believe it! His heart feels like it's been ripped out of his chest. After all he had been through...the insults and menial labour at the barber's, and the awful irregular hours of the deliveries...they had all been for nothing! He had wasted his time, as usual.

 _'The world doesn't want me to be happy_ ,' he thought.

As the octopus trails sadly home, Franz wonders if this was the friend that SpongeBob had been so eager to gift the clarinet to.

...

On Monday, Squidward is in a fouler mood than ever. As much as he loves his driftwood clarinet he got from SpongeBob, he is reluctant to play it frequently, as it is an exquisite and valuable gift, and he only plays it on certain occasions- Christmas being one of them.

His teeth are permanently grinding, focusing on trying to get through the day without thinking how much of his life he wasted for naught.

Oh, why did he take Clarry to the park that fateful day? If high school with Squilliam had taught him anything, it was to always keep your valuables safe. And he let his guard down.

Squidward sighs, allowing a thick black cloud of depression to overcome him.

...

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, SpongeBob can see how unhappy his colleague is, and his heartstrings twist in sympathy.

"Poor Squid," he murmurs, and he decides to give Squidward his clarinet now, to cheer him up. Mr Krabs allowed him to keep it in his office for safekeeping- for a fee, of course. So he heads into his boss's office using the door between it and the kitchen.

At least one of them needs to be happy. He's struggling to even smile right now- no matter how much he wants to.

...

"When I find out who bought the last clarinet, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind! I'll stretch them! I'll wring their insides out! I'll rip them to pieces!" Squidward growls before slumping down on the boat in misery and defeat.

When the octopus realises his co-worker is standing by the boat, hands behind his back, he glowers at him "What is it, SpongeBob? If you're here to say something about how 'fantastic' Krabby Patties are, I'm not in the mood!"

"Squidward, I...I was the last one who bought the last clarinet," The poriferan confesses, tears filling his eyes. "Before you give me a piece of your mind, and stretch me, and wring my insides out, and rip me to pieces, I just want you to have this..." and he hands Squidward a wrapped package.

Rolling his eyes, the cashier unwraps and opens his gift- revealing a gorgeous new clarinet in his tentacles, and he gapes. Noticing a stray card on the floor, he picks it up and is about to scrunch it up when he glimpses scrawls on it.

...

' _Dear Squidward, the best next door neighbour ever!_

 _I hope you enjoy your new clarinet, and continue expressing your heart through your music._

 _Love, SpongeBob_

...

Squidward remains silent as he looks at the clarinet, and reflecting on his neighbour's impulsive and well-meant deed.

Blinking, he decides there is only one course of action left to do...

...

"Okay, Squidward... I'm ready..." SpongeBob announces, his knees shaking. But Squidward doesn't give him a piece of his mind, stretch him, wring his insides out, or rip him to pieces.

Instead, he sweeps him up in a grateful hug.

SpongeBob is confused, but he manages a smile at the act of affection he receives from the normally aloof Squidward.

Once the cephalopod releases his hold, he coughs awkwardly. "Look, Sponge..." he begins, rubbing his arm awkwardly, "I'm going to say this once, okay? I'm not...great at this...Why? Why did you do it?"

The poriferan smiles up at his co-worker "I did it because no one deserves to have what they love the most taken away or destroyed." He explains. "I know I'd be upset if I couldn't make Krabby Patties, or be with my friends, or catch jellyfish, or blow bubbles, or"-

"I get it!" Squidward interrupts, fixing his gaze upon SpongeBob. "Look, I earned the money to replace it as well- but seeing as you beat me to it, take it." He finishes.

SpongeBob just shakes his head. "No, Squidward- I couldn't." He sighs. "I thank you, but your gratitude is more than enough."

"Well, I don't feel right accepting a brand new clarinet from you, SpongeBob, without doing something in return!" the cephalopod retorts. "Isn't there something you want? You...you don't even have to say it right now!" He adds, almost desperately.

SpongeBob is silent for a moment, looking up at Squidward. Squidward then sees something that he never hoped to see in the sponge's eyes- fear and terror.

"There is something you could do for me, Squidward..." he breathes. "But it's big- really big."


	5. Chapter 5

"And you just spent over $1000 dollars for a new clarinet that you didn't even break," Squidward points out, folding his tentacles across his chest, and giving his neighbour a stern look. "Whatever it is, it couldn't be much bigger than what you've done for me."

SpongeBob gulps quietly, and his bright blue eyes fill up with tears. "Well...I was feeling tired due to working for your clarinet... and, whenever I coughed, it really hurt my chest. So, I went to ask Sandy about it. She noticed I'd somehow lost weight, and she did some tests on me... She found that I'm infected with a deadly bacterium which will kill me if I don't get it treated..."

Squidward's eyes widen in horror. As much as his neighbour annoys him every day, the fact that SpongeBob is dying is a terrifying thought to even comprehend- let alone hear from the said sponge's lips. He wonders if this is some sort of cruel joke. He remains silent, allowing SpongeBob to continue.

"Sandy took me to see a doctor, and they both think I'll make it if I'm treated now. But I'm going to be off work for a while- and I need someone to take care of Gary and my house while I'm in hospital...my parents said they'd do it, but they need a day to get here, and I don't want to put pressure on them..." SpongeBob admits, his eyes taking a newfound interest in the floorboards of the dining area.

"Fine- I'll do it," Squidward answers, surprisingly a bit less grudgingly than he would like to admit. He doesn't really want to get involved in looking after Gary again. But SpongeBob did something huge for him, and he doesn't want to advantage of him- unlike the time SpongeBob had brought him into his home after he himself lost his job at the Krusty Krab.

"Thank you," SpongeBob answers weakly, before coughing violently. "I'm really scared, though, Squidward- I don't know if I'm ready..." He tells him quietly, his knees shaking.

"If _you_ of all people can face Monday morning, you can face anything," Squidward replies, trying to crack a joke.

But SpongeBob says nothing. His eyes well up with tears, making the cephalopod annoyed, worried and, worst of all, helpless.

"Look, don't cry, Sponge- it'll work out," Says Squidward, softly, a tentacle hovering in mid-air with uncertainty "I know you, and you don't give up. I don't know how, but you just don't. You try and get me to not give up, so I'm not giving up on you." He tells him.

SpongeBob raises his tear- filled eyes at Squidward. "You...you mean it...?" he asks, his voice trembling.

"Yes. As much as I loathe you, SpongeBob, you are the person least deserving of death." Squidward answers, and looks at his clarinet. The gift from his annoying neighbour, before looking at the cook's teary eyes. He knows that this road wouldn't be easy. He could just walk away.

But...he can't.

SpongeBob selflessly raised over $1000 for a new clarinet- for _him_. How could he walk away from someone who restored his joy out of kindness, and is even now dying right in front of him?

Why did fate have to pick the one-person Squidward had silently acknowledged as a friend?

The one person who smiles seeing him in the morning; the one person willing to praise him instead of jeer at him; the one person who cares about how he feels; the one person who never understands Squidward was insulting him; the one person capable of looking past Squidward's grouchy, selfish shell and seeing something valuable and precious inside.

Squidward decides silently that if SpongeBob wouldn't accept the money he raised for the clarinet, then he'll use it to help him survive this wretched bacterium.

Without another word, he finally makes his mind up- and lets his tentacle rest on the poriferan's shoulder in what he hopes is a comforting manner.

After every hellish thing his neighbour puts him through- the courts, wasted Sundays and one more reason to dread work- he still cares about his neighbour, somewhat.

Why did it only take the ominous threat of death by an unseen enemy to realise something he had been blind to for so long?


End file.
